At Rutgers, pride comes at too-high cost

Rutgers University's own financial forecast anticipates more than $180 million in subsidies to keep its athletic department operating over the next eight years. The supposed good news is that by 2022, when Rutgers is a full financial partner in the Big Ten, the school's athletics will be almost self-sufficient, requiring only $3.1 million in additional aid.

Those numbers included in the forecast first reported by The Star-Ledger are disturbing enough on their own. But they also appear to reflect a best-case scenario anticipating major revenue hikes in ticket sales and donations. The report also included projected annual spending increases of 3 percent, far below the school's own numbers in its budget report submitted to the NCAA.

So this is the financial boon Rutgers can expect from joining the Big Ten? An enormous outlay of subsidies for most of the next decade, followed by still losing money even if everything goes great?

School officials are operating on the broad assumption that the entire Rutgers community is going to be energized by the school's Big Ten membership. But that will require Rutgers being something more than a competitive doormat in football - the main revenue generator by far - and that will take both time and money to accomplish. There's a very good chance that Rutgers will have to spend more to earn less than the forecasted numbers suggest, which will leave an even greater burden on students and taxpayers to pay athletic department debts for many years to come.

The draft report was put together by Janine Purcaro, the athletics department's chief financial officer, and a quote she provided to the Ledger is telling. "Division 1 athletics adds to the overall college experience. You can't put a price on the feeling of pride in the institution that happens on game day. It adds to the overall college experience."

That comment clearly reflects the school's mindset, that it is an indisputably worthy goal to build a top sports program, that such status is, in effect, priceless. But if you can't put a price on pride, then why should we expect the school to care about how much money they demand from students to create that experience? Everyone supposedly wins, right?

Well, except for all those who might have benefited more from a different use of that money. Cheaper tuition would be nice. So would investment in academic programs. There are countless ways for a university to better spend its available funds then fattening a highly paid coach's contract or adding a few luxuries to athletic facilities to make them more attractive to recruits.

All of the sports spending might make sense if it generated tangible benefits to the rest of the school. But Rutgers will continue to rely upon a whopping amount of athletic subsidies for years to come, and eight years from now will be still be millions of dollars in the red. And that's the optimistic viewpoint. There will have to be a whole lot of profit a long time down the road to make up for all of that. But Rutgers will at least enjoy the status of Big Ten membership. Big deal. It's like giving someone a job promotion with a new title and no raise.

Rutgers is spending a ton of money trying to become something that it's not - a major college sports power. Whether it can eventually get there is an open question, but is it even worth the effort? The university has decided it is. The numbers say otherwise.

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

Email this article

At Rutgers, pride comes at too-high cost

Rutgers University's own financial forecast anticipates more than $180 million in subsidies to keep its athletic department operating over the next eight years.

A link to this page will be included in your message.

Real Deals

Sales, coupons, circulars and more from your favorite Morris County area retailers.